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Reveling in the past is like smoking: it’s therapeutic, romantic, and a really shitty thing to spend too much time doing. Relationships end, and it’s painful. But the sooner you pull the knife out of the wound, the sooner you can heal. This week, we look at when to move on and how to finally do it.

Break ups can be devastating. There’s no nice way to do it and there’s no warm fuzzy feeling attached to it. Once the deed’s done, then the status is no longer quo and everything’s changed. So what next?

In every break up there is a definite winner and a definite loser. Someone who comes out of it all bright eyed and happy as if they just got out of rehab and someone who comes out looking like rehab is probably their best option.

We’re human. We love so deeply and intensely. We give our whole selves to another human being. We live for them. We’d die for them. We crave their touch and their validation and their approval. We crave belonging. We crave relationships. And we all know that sometimes those relationships don’t work out.

I didn’t dress up for Halloween. Didn’t go out, get sloppy drunk or watch scary movies. I was, however, encountered by a ghost. Three of them. Carlos, Tonio and Brian…and basically every other guy that I’ve ever talked to.

Richardson looks like your average stranger with candy, one who might lure young children into his Astro van. Despite his creeptastic appearance (and matching personality), famous faces have no problem taking it all off for him.

Whether you have ever had a serious relationship before or not, we all have had a relationship in some form or another. Whether it be a friendship, casual fling, or every-once-in-a-while-aquaintence, there is a form of relationship.

So, after a few sloppy dances and sweaty hugs, my friends finally find me and let me know you are, in fact, not as attractive as I had thought, and I depart. Without you. (Tease move number one). But not before you whip out your iPhone4 and I shout my number over the music. And that’s how it always begins.

Now it's hard to believe there was anything before Google. But back in my middle school days, Ask Jeeves was a fricking genius and there was no one I trusted more. I missed him and I I did what any girl with an old crush would do. I started tweeting. And while it started out on a promising note (and dare I say, flirtatious!), it went downhill pretty quickly.

The point is, a breakup is hard for both parties involved no matter the circumstances. And though I had my low moments, I still wanted to jump right back into the dating scene. Why? Because I’m young and there are hot guys everywhere at my university! Because I like to meet new people! Because not all guys are going to hurt me and I’m ready to meet someone worthwhile.

After about a year of dating (non-exclusively), he told me he was still in love with his ex-girlfriend, and I was really hurt by this. I stopped talking to him and he got back together with her, and by then I loved him. After they broke up in June, I still hadn't talked to him because I was mad/hurt/upset, but I still loved him (only God knows why!).

“What ifs” are the deadliest and one of the most common affliction to present relationships. EVERYONE, and I mean everyone, has “what if” feelings about at least one phantom from their pasts. It’s just the way human beings work. We think about “what ifs” in regards to correcting mistakes we made, or erasing regrets and even as just nagging bits of neuroses reminding us of the issues we’ll never get rid of no matter how much therapy we pay for!

My boyfriend and I have been dating for about eight months. About three months ago, while very drunk, I kissed someone else and told him about it the next day. He was really upset, and while we were talking about it, he brought up how out of control mad he got when his ex-girlfriend of three years told him about another guy hitting on her really aggressively and the fact that she didn't do anything to stop it.

No one likes being broken up with. And few people, I'm sure, actually enjoy being the breaker upper. But regardless of the situation it has to happen, because as much as I would love to tell you that you will only date one person...it rarely happens. And as someone who as been on both ends, multiple times, I feel as though I can shed some light on creative ways to break up with your S.O.

So, after a few sloppy dances and sweaty hugs, my friends finally find me and let me know you are, in fact, not as attractive as I had thought, and I depart. Without you. (Tease move number one). But not before you whip out your iPhone4 and I shout my number over the music. And that’s how it always begins.

Relationships can be great — always having someone to cuddle with, vent to, and share your favorite things with, but unfortunately things don’t always go as smoothly as planned. Sometimes once you get to know a person — once you spend more than a few month’s worth of sexy nights with them — you realize that maybe things aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.